Category Archives: GOD’S LOVE IN US

CONSISTENCY.040516

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Open Your Heart Concept

“Consistency is the crutch of small minds.”  Tex (from a letter to my kids)

Some people said Jesus was inconsistent because He said people should abide by the law one time, and the next time He said people should be led by the Spirit, and be merciful to lawbreakers. Even in the Old Testament, God said He’d rather have someone with an obedient heart than sacrifice, even though sacrifice was according to the law.

Over and over in the Bible, it says that God looks at the heart.  Somehow or other it should be the way we look at it too.  I’m sure people ought to do what they say they will, but you don’t have to do the same way ever time. Different situations require different responses.

And this isn’t situation ethics either.  It is just realizing that we ascribe to a higher law, which is layman’s terms is being true to God and the people that God puts you with, above being true to man’s law or any dogmatic principle.  (How do you know which is is right?  If you’re seeking God, you’ll know.)  Like it says in the Bible, “This is the first and great commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, . . . And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”  This is the fulfillment of all of the law and all of the prophets.  If you love God, you will keep His commandments; if you love your neighbor, you’ll treat him right.

My experience has been that if you abide by these two commandments, you won’t always appear consistent to the world, but you will usually do the right thing, and you will be consistent to God and in your heart.

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UNDERSTATEMENT.030216

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Isaac Newton       [From a letter to my kids]

I read somewhere that if you are asked to tell something about yourself, it is always better to say as little as possible.  If there is something about you that’s worth telling, somebody else can tell it, and it will sound a whole lot better coming from them than from you.

And if you are supposed to get an award for something you’ve done, make it a point to give all the credit to someone else.  Like your husband or your wife, or momma or daddy, or your teacher or boss or mentor.  Like Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the sholders of Giants.”  It’s especially neat if you can give the credit to the little people; like people who work for you; or your kids.  If you hunt a little, you can always find the right person or people to give the credit to.  If you’ll humble yourself, the Lord’s gonna lift you up. (James 4:10)

Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln (both of them) said that when you give a speech in English, use English (Anglo-Saxon) words, like hit, or run, or eat, or bite, or talk, or feel, or love, instead of long French-Latin based words like masticate, or orate, or agitate, or literate.  The short words have more meaning, more impact, and they stay with you longer.  In this case, as with the other, less is more.

As far as I know, the art of ‘kidding’, as taught by our forbears, is mostly the art of understatement; saying something is less than it is, just for fun and just for effect.  With folks that like to talk as much as we do, it’s hard not to talk, so it really is good to use the art of understatement.  As you know, I have a hard time doing it, but as I get older, I try a little more each day.  It’s not so much thinking about every word you say as it is a feeling in your heart.  If you humble yourself, the Lord will give you the right words to say. (1 Pet 5:6)

WHAT JESUS PRAYED–THAT WE ALL BE ONE: 010616

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hands of my friends 2John 17:20-26: 20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also [1] for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that  they also may be one in Us, . . . that  they may be one [with each other] just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that [2] they may be made perfect in one, and that [3] the world may know that You have sent Me, and [You] have loved them as You have loved Me.  4“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me [4] may be with Me where I am, . . .  that [5] the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

What does this mean?   “I do not pray for these alone [the original disciples (apostles)], but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” It means that Jesus was also praying for us; each one of us.  WE are ones who have believed in Jesus through the teaching and the preaching of Peter, James, John, and the others.  So Jesus was praying for you (and me). [1]  Jesus is praying that we (all of us who trust Him) will be one with Him, with the Father, and with each other; all at the same time.  To me that is the same situation that is expressed when Jesus says, “When you trust in Me, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your heart.”  Somebody said it was not just about us trusting God, but also about God trusting us.  What an idea!

[2] “That they may be made perfect in one” [perfect in this case means: whole, entire, wanting nothing]   This is just crazy.  With a few people I go to church with; with a few of those I serve with in various ministries, I count us as having a ‘perfect’ relationship, [whole, entire, wanting nothing]; they are people I actually spend time with almost every week, They are people I actually know; who they are, where they came from, what they think, how we feel about each other, about Jesus and about the world.  In a real sense, we DO have a ‘perfect’ relationship with each other because God/Jesus’ Spirit is in us.  Continue reading →